TITLE. There is no title to this Psalm,
and hence some conjecture that Psalm 70 is intended to be a
prelude to it, and has been broken off from it. Such imaginings
have no value with us. We have already met with five Psalms
without title, which are, nevertheless, as complete as those
which bear them. We have here THE PRAYER OF THE AGED
BELIEVER, who, in holy confidence of faith, strengthened by
a long and remarkable experience, pleads against his enemies,
and asks further blessings for himself. Anticipating a gracious
reply, he promises to magnify the Lord exceedingly.
DIVISION. The first four verses are
faith's cry for help; the next four are a testimony of
experience. From Ps 71:9-13, the aged saint pleads against his
foes, and then rejoices in hope, Ps 71:14-16. He returns to
prayer again in Ps 71:17-18, repeats the confident hopes which
cheered his soul, Ps 71:19-21; and then he closes with the
promise of abounding in thanksgiving. Throughout, this Psalm may
be regarded as the utterance of struggling, but unstaggering,
faith.
EXPOSITION
Verse 2. Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause
me to escape. Be true, O God, to thy word. It is a righteous
thing in thee to keep the promises which thou hast made unto thy
servants. I have trusted thee, and thou wilt not be unrighteous
to forget my faith. I am taken as in a net, but do thou liberate
me from the malice of my persecutors. Incline thine ear unto me,
and save me. Stoop to my feebleness, and hear my faint whispers;
be gracious to my infirmities, and smile upon me: I ask
salvation; listen thou to my petitions, and save me. Like one
wounded and left for dead by mine enemies, I need that thou bend
over me and bind up my wounds. These mercies are asked on the
plea of faith, and they cannot, therefore, be denied.
Verse 3. Be thou my strong habitation. Permit
me to enter into thee, and be as much at home as a man in his
own house, and then suffer me to remain in thee as my settled
abode. Whereas foes molest me, I need a dwelling framed and
bulwarked, to sustain a siege and resist the attacks of armies;
let, then, thine omnipotence secure me, and be as a fortress
unto me. Here we see a weak man, but he is in a strong
habitation; his security rests upon the tower in which he hides,
and is not placed in jeopardy through his personal feebleness.
Whereunto I may continually resort. Fast shut is this castle
against all adversaries, its gates they cannot burst open; the
drawbridge is up, the portcullis is down, the bars are fast in
their places; but, there is a secret door, by which friends of
the great Lord can enter at all hours of the day or night, as
often as ever they please. There is never an hour when it is
unlawful to pray. Mercy's gates stand wide open, and shall do
so, till, at the last, the Master of the house has risen up and
shut to the door. Believers find their God to be their
habitation, strong and accessible, and this is for them a
sufficient remedy for all the ills of their mortal life.
Thou hast given commandment to save me. Nature is charged to
be tender with God's servants; Providence is ordered to work
their good, and the forces of the invisible world are ordained
as their guardians. David charged all his troops to spare the
young man Absalom, but yet he fell. God's commandment is of far
higher virtue, for it compels obedience, and secures its end.
Destruction cannot destroy us, famine cannot starve us; but we
laugh at both, while God's mandate shields us. No stones of the
field can throw us down, while angels bear us up in their hands;
neither can the beasts of the field devour us, while David's God
delivers us from their ferocity, or Daniel's God puts them in
awe of us. For thou art my rock and my fortress. In God
we have all the security which nature which furnishes the rock,
and art which builds the fortress, could supply; he is the
complete preserver of his people. Immutability may be set forth
by the rock, and omnipotence by the fortress. Happy is he who
can use the personal pronoun "my"—not only once, but
as many times as the many aspects of the Lord may render
desirable. Is he a strong habitation? I will call him "my
strong habitation, "and he shall be my rock, my
fortress, my God (Ps 71:4), my hope, my
trust (Ps 71:5), my praise (Ps 71:6). All mine shall be
his, all his shall be mine. This was the reason why the psalmist
was persuaded that God had commanded his salvation, namely,
because he had enabled his to exercise a calm and appropriating
faith.
Verse 4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of
the wicked. God is on the same side with us, and those who
are our enemies are also his, for they are wicked; therefore
will the Lord surely rescue his own confederates, and he will
not suffer the evil to triumph over the just. He who addresses
such a prayer as this to heaven, does more injury to his enemies
than if he had turned a battery of Armstrongs upon them. Out of
the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. Being wicked to God,
they become unrighteous towards men, and cruel in their
persecutions of the godly. Two hands are here mentioned: they
grasp and they crush; they strike and they would slay if God did
not prevent; had they as many hands as Briarcus, the finger of
God would more than match them.
Verse 5. For thou art my hope, O Lord God. God
who gives us grace to hope in him, will assuredly fulfil our
hope, and, therefore, we may plead it in prayer. His name is
"Jehovah, the hope of Israel" (Jer 17:13); and, as he
cannot be a false or failing hope, we may expect to see our
confidence justified. Thou art my trust from my youth. David had
proved his faith by notable exploits when he was a youth and
ruddy; it was to him a cheering recollection, and he felt
persuaded that the God of his youth would not forsake him in his
age. They are highly favoured who can like David, Samuel,
Josiah, Timothy, and others say, "Thou art my trust from my
youth."
Verse 6. By thee have I been holden up from the
womb. Before he was able to understand the power which
preserved him, he was sustained by it. God knows us before we
know anything. The elect of old lay in the bosom of God before
they were laid on their mothers' bosoms; and when their
infantile weakness had no feet strong enough to carry it, the
Lord upheld it. We do well to reflect upon divine goodness to us
in childhood, for it is full of food for gratitude. Thou art he
that took me out of my mother's bowels. Even before conscious
life, the care of God is over his chosen. Birth is a mystery of
mercy, and God is with both mother and babe. If marriages are
registered in heaven, we may be sure that births are also. Holy
women do well to bless God for his mercy to them in nature's
perilous hour; but every one who is born of woman has equal
cause for thankfulness. She, whose life is preserved, should
render thanks, and so should he whose life is given. My praise
shall be continually of thee. Where goodness has been
unceasingly received, praise should unceasingly be offered. God
is the circle where praise should begin, continue, and endlessly
revolve, since in him we live, and move, and have our being.
Verse 7. I am as a wonder unto many. "To
thousand eyes a mark and gaze am I." The saints are men
wondered at; often their dark side is gloomy even to amazement,
while their bright side is glorious even to astonishment. The
believer is a riddle, an enigma puzzling the unspiritual; he is
a monster warring with those delights of the flesh, which are
the all in all of other men; he is a prodigy, unaccountable to
the judgments of ungodly men; a wonder gazed at, feared, and, by
and by, contemptuously derided. Few understand us, many are
surprised at us. But thou art my strong refuge. Here is the
answer to our riddle. If we are strong, it is in God; if we are
safe, our refuge shelters us; if we are calm, our soul hath
found her stay in God. When faith is understood, and the grounds
of her confidence seen, the believer is no longer a wonder; but
the marvel is that so much unbelief remains among the sons of
men.
Verse 8. Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and
with thy honour all the day. What a blessed mouthful! A man
never grows nauseated though the flavour of it be all day in his
mouth. God's bread is always in our mouths, so should his praise
be. He fills us with good; let us be also filled with gratitude.
This would leave no room for murmuring or backbiting; therefore,
may we well join with holy David in this sacred wish.
Verse 9. Cast me not off in the time of old age.
David was not tired of his Master, and his only fear was lest
his Master should be tired of him. The Amalekite in the Bible
history left his Egyptian servant to famish when he grew old and
sick, but not so the Lord of saints; even to hoar hairs he bears
and carries us. Alas for us, if we were abandoned by our God, as
many a courtier has been by his prince! Old age robs us of
personal beauty, and deprives us of strength for active service;
but it does not lower us in the love and favour of God. An
ungrateful country leaves its worn out defenders to starve upon
a scanty pittance, but the pensioners of heaven are satisfied
with good things. Forsake me not when my strength faileth. Bear
with me, and endure my infirmities. To be forsaken of God is the
worst of all conceivable ills, and if the believer can be but
clear of that grievous fear, he is happy: no saintly heart need
be under any apprehension upon this point.
Verse 10. For mine enemies speak against me.
Dogs howl over a dying lion. When David's arm was able to
chastise his foes, they were yet impudent enough to slander him,
and he fears that now they will take fresh license in the hour
of his weakness. The text most properly means that his enemies
had said that God would forsake him; and, therefore, he is the
more earnest that the Lord's faithful dealings may give them the
lie. And they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together.
The psalmist had enemies, and these were most malicious; seeking
his utter destruction, they were very persevering, and staid
long upon the watch; to this they added cunning, for they lay in
ambush to surprise him, and take him at a disadvantage; and all
this they did with the utmost unanimity and deliberation,
neither spoiling their design by want of prudence, nor marring
its accomplishment by a lack of unity. The Lord our God is our
only and all sufficient resort from every form of persecution.
Verse 11. Saying, God hath forsaken him. O
bitter taunt! There is no worse arrow in all the quivers of
hell. Our Lord felt this barbed shaft, and it is no marvel if
his disciples feel the same. Were this exclamation the truth, it
were indeed an ill day for us; but, glory be to God, it is a
barefaced lie. Persecute and take him. Let loose the dogs of
persecution upon him, seize him, worry him, for there is none to
deliver him. Down with him, for he has no friends. It is safe to
insult him, for none will come to his rescue. O cowardly boasts
of a braggart foe, how do ye wound the soul of the believer: and
only when his faith cries to his Lord is he able to endure your
cruelty.
Verse 12. O God, be not far from me. Nearness
to God is our conscious security. A child in the dark is
comforted by grasping its father's hand. O my God, make haste
for my help. To call God ours, as having entered into covenant
with us, is a mighty plea in prayer, and a great stay to our
faith. The cry of "make haste" has occurred many times
in this portion of the Psalms, and it was evoked by the sore
pressure of affliction. Sharp sorrows soon put an end to
procrastinating prayers.
Verse 13. Let them be confounded and consumed that
are adversaries to my soul. It will be all this to them to
see thy servant preserved; their envy and malice, when
disappointed, will fill them with life consuming bitterness. The
defeat of their plans shall nonplus them, they shall be
confounded as they enquire the reason for their overthrow; the
men they seek to destroy seem so weak, and their cause so
contemptible, that they will be filled with amazement as they
see them not only survive all opposition, but even surmount it.
How confounded must Pharaoh have been when Israel multiplied,
despite his endeavours to exterminate the race; and how consumed
with rage must the Scribes and Pharisees have become when they
saw the gospel spreading from land to land by the very means
which they used for its destruction. Let them be covered with
reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt. He would have their
shame made visible to all eyes, by their wearing it in their
blushes as a mantle. They would have made a laughing stock of
the believer, if his God had forsaken him; therefore, let
unbelief and atheism be made a public scoffing in their persons.
Verse 14. The holy faith of the persecuted saint comes
to the front in these three verses. But I will hope continually.
When I cannot rejoice in what I have, I will look forward to
what shall be mine, and will still rejoice. Hope will live on a
bare common, and sing on a branch laden down with snow. No date
and no place are unsuitable for hope. Hell alone excepted, hope
is a dweller in all regions. We may always hope, for we always
have grounds for it: we will always hope, for it is a never
failing consolation. And will yet praise thee more and more. He
was not slack in thanksgiving; in fact, no man was ever more
diligent in it; yet he was not content with all his former
praises, but vowed to become more and more a grateful
worshipper. When good things are both continual and progressive
with us, we are on the right tack. We ought to be misers in
going good, and our motto should be "more and more."
While we do not disdain to "rest and be thankful, "we
cannot settle down into resting in our thankfulness. "Superior"
cries the eagle, as he mounts towards the sun: higher and yet
higher is also our aim, as we soar aloft in duty and devotion.
It is our continual hope that we shall be able more and more to
magnify the Lord.
Verse 15. My mouth shall shew forth thy
righteousness and thy salvation all the day. We are to bear
testimony as experience enables us, and not withhold from others
that which we have tasted and handled. The faithfulness of God
in saving us, in delivering us out of the hand of our enemies,
and in fulfilling his promises, is to be everywhere proclaimed
by those who have proved it in their own history. How gloriously
conspicuous is righteousness in the divine plan of redemption!
It should be the theme of constant discourse. The devil rages
against the substitutionary sacrifice, and errorists of every
form make this the main point of their attack; be it ours,
therefore, to love the doctrine, and to spread its glad tidings
on every side, and at all times. Mouths are never so usefully
employed as in recounting the righteousness of God revealed in
the salvation of believers in Jesus. The preacher who should be
confined to this one theme would never need seek another: it is
the medulla theologae, the very pith and marrow of
revealed truth. Has our reader been silent upon this choice
subject? Let us, then, press him to tell abroad what he enjoys
within: he does not well who keeps such glad tidings to himself.
For I know not the numbers thereof. He knew the sweetness of it,
the sureness, the glory, and the truth of it; but as to the full
reckoning of its plenitude, variety, and sufficiency, he felt he
could not reach to the height of the great argument. Lord, where
I cannot count I will believe, and when a truth surpasses
numeration I will take to admiration. When David spoke of his
enemies, he said they were more in number than the hairs of his
head; he had, therefore, some idea of their number, and found a
figure suitable to set it out; but, in the case of the Lord's
covenant mercies, he declares, "I know not the number,
"and does not venture upon any sort of comparison. To
creatures belong number and limit, to God and his grace there is
neither. We may, therefore, continue to tell out his great
salvation all day long, for the theme is utterly inexhaustible.
Verse 16. I will go in the strength of the Lord
God. Our translators give us a good sense, but not the sense
in this place, which is on this wise, "I will come with the
mighty deeds of the Lord Jehovah." He would enter into
those deeds by admiring study, and then, wherever he went, he
would continue to rehearse them. He should ever be a welcome
guest who can tell us of the mighty acts of the Lord, and help
us to put our trust in him. The authorised version may be used
by us as a resolve in all our exertions and endeavours. In our
own strength we must fail; but, when we hear the voice which
saith, "Go in this thy might, "we may advance without
fear. Though hell itself were in the way, the believer would
pursue the path of duty, crying: I will go in the strength of
the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even
of thine only. Man's righteousness is not fit to be
mentioned—filthy rags are best hidden; neither is there any
righteousness under heaven, or in heaven, comparable to the
divine. As God himself fills all space, and is, therefore, the
only God, leaving no room for another, so God's righteousness,
in Christ Jesus, fills the believer's soul, and he counts all
other things but dross and dung "that he may win Christ,
and be found in him, not having his own righteousness which is
of the law, but the righteousness which is of God by
faith." What would be the use of speaking upon any other
righteousness to a dying man? and all are dying men. Let those
who will cry up man's natural innocence, the dignity of the
race, the purity of philosophers, the loveliness of untutored
savages, the power of sacraments, and the infallibility of
pontiffs; this is the true believer's immovable resolve: "I
will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine
only." For ever dedicated to thee, my Lord, be this poor,
unworthy tongue, whose glory it shall be to glorify thee.
Verse 17. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth.
It was comfortable to the psalmist to remember that from his
earliest days he had been the Lord's disciple. None are too
young to be taught of God, and they make the most proficient
scholars who begin betimes. And hitherto have I declared thy
wondrous works. He had learned to tell what he knew, he was a
pupil teacher; he continued still learning and declaring, and
did not renounce his first master; this, also, was his comfort,
but it is one which those who have been seduced from the school
of the gospel, into the various colleges of philosophy and
scepticism, will not be able to enjoy. A sacred conservatism is
much needed in these days, when men are giving up old lights for
new. We mean both to learn and to teach the wonders of redeeming
love, till we can discover something nobler or more soul
satisfying; for this reason we hope that our gray heads will be
found in the same road as we have trodden, even from our
beardless youth.
Verse 18. Now also when I am old and grey headed, O
God, forsake me not. There is something touching in the
sight of hair whitened with the snows of many a winter: the old
and faithful soldier receives consideration from his king, the
venerable servant is beloved by his master. When our infirmities
multiply, we may, with confidence, expect enlarged privileges in
the world of grace, to make up for our narrowing range in the
field of nature. Nothing shall make God forsake those who have
not forsaken him. Our fear is lest he should do so; but his
promise kisses that fear into silence. Until I have shewed thy
strength unto this generation. He desired to continue his
testimony and complete it; he had respect to the young men and
little children about him, and knowing the vast importance of
training them in the fear of God, he longed to make them all
acquainted with the power of God to support his people, that
they also might be led to walk by faith. He had leaned on the
almighty arm, and could speak experimentally of its all
sufficiency, and longed to do so ere life came to a close. And
thy power to every one that is to come. He would leave a record
for unborn ages to read. He thought the Lord's power to be so
worthy of praise, that he would make the ages ring with it till
time should be no more. For this cause believers live, and they
should take care to labour zealously for the accomplishment of
this their most proper and necessary work. Blessed are they who
begin in youth to proclaim the name of the Lord, and cease not
until their last hour brings their last word for their divine
Master.
Verse 19. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very
high. Very sublime, unsearchable, exalted, and glorious is
the holy character of God, and his way of making men righteous.
His plan of righteousness uplifts men from the gates of hell to
the mansions of heaven. It is a high doctrine gospel, gives a
high experience, leads to high practice, and ends in high
felicity. Who hast done great things. The exploits of others are
mere child's play compared with thine, and are not worthy to be
mentioned in the same age. Creation, providence, redemption, are
all unique, and nothing can compare with them. O God, who is
like unto thee. As thy works are so transcendent, so art thou.
Thou art without compeer, or even second, and such are thy
works, and such, especially, thy plan of justifying sinners by
the righteousness which thou hast provided. Adoration is a fit
frame of mind for the believer. When he draws near to God, he
enters into a region where everything is surpassingly sublime;
miracles of love abound on every hand, and marvels of mingled
justice and grace. A traveller among the high Alps often feels
overwhelmed with awe, amid their amazing sublimities; much more
is this the case when we survey the heights and depths of the
mercy and holiness of the Lord. O God, who is like unto thee.
Verse 20. Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore
troubles, shalt quicken me again. Here is faith's inference
from the infinite greatness of the Lord. He has been strong to
smite; he will be also strong to save. He has shown me many
heavy and severe trials, and he will also show me many and
precious mercies. He has almost killed me, he will speedily
revive me; and though I have been almost dead and buried, he
will give me a resurrection, and bring me up again from the
depths of the earth. However low the Lord may permit us to sink,
he will fix a limit to the descent, and in due time will bring
us up again. Even when we are laid low in the tomb, the mercy is
that we can go no lower, but shall retrace our steps and mount
to better lands; and all this, because the Lord is ever mighty
to save. A little God would fail us, but not Jehovah the
Omnipotent. It is safe to lean on him, since he bears up the
pillars both of heaven and earth.
Verse 21. Thou shalt increase my greatness. As
a king, David grew in influence and power. God did great things
for him, and by him, and this is all the greatness believers
want. May we have faith in God, such as these words evince. And
comfort me on every side. As we were surrounded with
afflictions, so shall we be environed with consolations. From
above, and from all around, light shall come to dispel our
former gloom; the change shall be great, indeed, when the Lord
returns to comfort us. Here is the final vow of praise.
Verse 22. I will also praise thee with the
psaltery. Love so amazing calls for sweetest praise. David
would give his best music, both vocal and instrumental, to the
Best of Masters. His harp should not be silent, nor his voice.
Even thy truth, O my God. This is ever a most enchanting
attribute—viz., the truth or faithfulness of our covenant God.
On this we rest, and from it we draw streams of richest
consolation. His promises are sure, his love unalterable, his
veracity indisputable. What saint will not praise him as he
remembers this? Unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy
One of Israel. Here is a new name, and, as it were, a new song.
The Holy One of Israel is at once a lofty and an endearing name,
full of teaching. Let us resolve, by all means within our power,
to honour him. Here is the final vow of praise.
Verse 23. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing
unto thee. It shall be no weariness to me to praise thee. It
shall be a delightful recreation, a solace, a joy. The essence
of song lies in the holy joy of the singer. And my soul, which
thou hast redeemed. Soul singing is the soul of singing. Till
men are redeemed, they are like instruments out of tune; but
when once the precious blood has set them at liberty, then are
they fitted to magnify the Lord who bought them. Our being
bought with a price is a more than sufficient reason for our
dedicating ourselves to the earnest worship of God our Saviour.
Here is the final vow of praise.
Verse 24. My tongue also shall talk of thy
righteousness all the day long. I will talk to myself, and
to thee, my God, and to my fellow men: my theme shall be thy way
of justifying sinners, the glorious display of thy righteousness
and grace in thy dear Son; and this most fresh and never to be
exhausted subject shall be ever with me, from the rising of the
sun to the going down of the same. Others talk of their
beloveds, and they shall be made to hear of mine. I will become
an incessant talker, while this matter lies on my heart, for in
all company this subject will be in season. For they are
confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.
As in many other Psalms, the concluding stanzas speak of that as
an accomplished fact, which was only requested in former verses.
Faith believes that she has her request, and she has it. She is
the substance of things hoped for—a substance so real and
tangible, that it sets the glad soul singing. Already sin,
Satan, and the world are vanquished, and the victory is ours.
"Sin, Satan, Death appear
To harass and appal:
Yet since the gracious Lord is near,
Backward they go, and fall."
"We meet them face to face,
Through Jesus' conquest blest;
March in the triumph of his grace,
Right onward to our rest."
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. This Psalm, which has no title in the
Hebrew, in the LXX has the title, By David, of the sons of
Jonadab, and of those who were first made prisoners. If any
authority be allowed to this title, we must suppose that this
was a Psalm written by David, which was used, as particularly
adapted to the circumstances of their condition, by the
Rechabites, who were descended from Jonadab (Jeremiah 35), and
the Jews, who were taken by the Chaldeans as captives to
Babylon. However this may be, it seems probable that David was
the author of this Psalm, and that he wrote it in his extreme
age, and but a little while before he died. The line which
follows the next Psalm, and closes the second book, perhaps has
a reference to this fact. Some of the Fathers interpret the
Psalm mystically of the church in her old age, and her trials at
the end of the world. "Plain Commentary."
Whole Psalm. The Psalm, I am aware, is anonymous, and
is, therefore, by many recent critics referred to some later
writer; but I am satisfied that Venema and Hengstenberg have
adduced sufficient reasons for retaining the opinion of Calvin
and the older expositors, that it is from David's pen, and is
the plaintive song of his old age. It shows us the soul of the
aged saint, darkened by the remembrance of his great
transgression, and by the swarms of sorrows with which that sin
filled all his later years. But he finds comfort in reverting to
the happy days of his childhood, and especially to the
irrevocable trust which he was then enabled to repose in God.
The thoughts and feelings expressed remind one of those which
invest with such a solemn, tender interest the Second Epistle to
Timothy, which embalms the dying thoughts of the great apostle.
Like Paul, David takes a retrospect of the Lord's dealings with
him from the beginning; and, in effect, declares, with the dying
apostle: "I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I
have committed unto him against that day." 2Ti 1:12. Only,
there is this notable difference between the two, that while
Paul gathered confirmation of his faith from the experience of a
thirty years' walk with his Lord, David's experience stretched
over more than twice so many years; for it began with his
childhood. William Binnie.
Whole Psalm. It will be asked how Christ could use
such verses as Ps 71:9,18, since these look forward apparently
to the frailty of age. The reply to this felt difficulty is,
these expressions are used by him in sympathy with his members,
and in his own case denote the state equivalent to age. His
old age was, ere he reached three and thirty years, as Joh 8:57
is supposed to imply: for "Worn out men live fast."
Barclay seems to give the right sense in the following lines:—
"Grown old and weak, with pain and grief,
Before his years were half complete."
Besides, the words signify, "Forsake me not from this
time onward, even were I to live to grey hairs." This is a
view that conveys precious consolation to aged ones, who might
be ready to say that Christ could not altogether enter into
their feelings, having never experienced the failing weakness of
age, the debility, the decay, the bodily infirmities so trying
to the spirit. But this Psalm shows us, that in effect he did
pass through that stage of our sojourning, worn out and wasted
in bodily frame and feeling, by living so much in so short a
time. The aged members of his church may find his sweet sympathy
breathed out in Isa 46:3-4; and, here they may almost see him
learning the lesson in a human way, as he bends under the weight
of our frailties. For this reason, among others, this Psalm was
specially prized by Robert Blair, one of our godly forefathers.
He used to call it "His Psalm." Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse 1. In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. As
if he should say: O Lord, permit not those who put their trust
in thee to be confounded, and to be held up as a laughing stock.
I have placed all my hope in thee, and thou art that God who,
for the sake of thy goodness and truth, hast never deserted
those who hope in thee. If thou shalt suffer me to be
confounded, the enemies to triumph, and my hope to be placed in
thee in vain, certainly this shame shall fall upon thine own
name... Let us, therefore, learn from this place to be more
anxious about what may happen to the name of God through us,
than to our own; whether it be through us in doing, or in us in
suffering. The prophet is fearful lest he should be confounded
on account of his hope placed in God, although it was not in his
own power, nor could he prevent it... It is necessary, first,
that we should be of those who place their hope in God, then it
is necessary that this piety of our hearts should not be
confined to ourselves only, but should be known to all those who
come in contact with us, even our opponents and enemies; else it
is not possible for us to dread this kind of confusion feared by
the prophet, when nobody knows that our hope is placed in God.
No artist suffers confusion, if he has never shared the good
opinion of his fellow men. To no sick man can it be said,
Physician, heal thyself, if his reputation for medical skill has
never stood high. So of those, it cannot be said, They hoped in
God, let him save them if he will have them, of whom it was
never remarked that they placed any hope in God. His solicitude,
therefore, belongs only to those whose hope is in the Lord; upon
others it cannot fall. Musculus.
Verse 1. In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. It
is a good beginning, and a recommendation to our prayers, when
we can declare our faith and trust to be in God alone. Edward
Walter, in "A Help to the profitable reading of the
Psalms." 1854.
Verse 2. Deliver me in thy righteousness. Incline
thine ear. Let my deliverance be the fruit of thy promise,
and of my prayer; and so it will be much the sweeter. John
Trapp.
Verse 2. In thy righteousness. The righteousness
of God is in this place that virtue by which he makes good his
promises—revenges injuries and rewards piety—which is
elsewhere called his veracity. Upon this perfection David
here calls, not because he was innocent before God, but because
God had bound himself to him by promises, as if he were, in the
presence of the men who were persecuting him, both innocent and
righteous; and, therefore, worthy of being delivered from this
last terrible calamity into which he has fallen through Absalom,
since God had thus acted towards him. Hermann Venema.
Verse 2. Thy righteousness. Not mine. He
knew that he was being chastened for his sin against Uriah. He
pleads no merit of his own. Simon de Muis.
Verse 2. Incline thine ear. And since I am so
wounded that I am not able to send up my cry to thee, the Most
High, do thou incline thine ear to me as I lie half dead,
left by the robbers who have wounded and spoiled me. Gerhohus.
Verse 3. Whereunto I may continually resort.
Would he then want to repair to him always? Our necessities, our
work, our danger require it constantly. We are commanded to pray
without ceasing. And if, while we acknowledge and feel the
obligation, we are renewed in the spirit of our mind, we shall
not lament it. Loving him, as well as depending upon him, we
shall find it good to draw near to God, and delight ourselves in
the Almighty; and we shall never find him, when we want him,
inaccessible. There is a way to our strong habitation,
and we know the way. There is a door, and we have the key. No
sentinel keeps us back; the dwelling is our own: and who
dares to forbid us all its accommodations and contents? Kings,
however disposed, cannot be always approachable. Owing to the
multitude of their claims, and the limitation of their powers,
and the importance of keeping up a sense of their dignity, they
are only accessible at certain times, and with stately
formalities. But the King of kings allows us to come boldly to
the throne of grace; and enjoins us in every thing, by prayer
and supplication, to make our requests unto him. We cannot be
too importunate, or by our continual coming weary him. William
Jay.
Verse 3. Thou hast given commandment to save me.
Let us observe his words; he ascribes to the word and command of
God a saving virtue, which no power on earth, none in hell, nor
death itself can resist. Only, he says, give the command that I
may be saved, and, in a moment, I shall be wholly saved. Musculus.
Verse 4. The cruel man is literally the
leavened man, leavened with hatred of truth and enmity to God;
and, therefore, a violent opposer of his people. So, in 1Co 5:8
we are cautioned against the "leaven of malice and
wickedness, "which, in accordance with the figure, may
pervade the whole natural character of an ungodly man, his
faculties and affections. W. Wilson.
Verse 5. Thou art my hope. Not only is our hope
in him but he himself is our hope. "God our Saviour,
and Lord Jesus Christ, "saith St. Paul, "our
hope." 1Ti 1:1. Yea, there is a deeper, nearer depth:
"The glory of the mystery of the gospel, "says St.
Paul, "is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Christ
himself is our hope, as the only Author of it; Christ is our
hope, as the End of it; and Christ, who is the Beginning and the
End, is our hope also by the way; for he saith, "Christ in
you, the hope of glory." Col 1:27. Each yearning of our
hearts, each ray of hope which gleams upon us, each touch which
thrills us, each voice which whispers in our inmost hearts of
the good things laid up in store for us, if we will love God,
are the light of Christ enlightening us, the touch of Christ
raising us to new life, the voice of Christ, "Whoso cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out; "it is "Christ in
us, the hope of glory, "drawing us up by his spirit who
dwelleth in us, unto himself our hope. For our hope is not the
glory of heaven, not joy, not peace, not rest from labour, not
fulness of our wishes, nor sweet contentment of the whole soul,
nor understanding of all mysteries and all knowledge, not only a
torrent of delight; it is "Christ our God, ""the
hope of glory." Nothing which God could create is
what we hope for; nothing which God could give us out of
himself, no created glory, or bliss, or beauty, or majesty, or
riches. What we hope for is our Redeeming God himself, his love,
his bliss, the joy of our Lord himself who hath so loved us, to
be our joy and our portion for ever. E. B. Pusey.
Verse 5. From my youth. The remembering and
acknowledging of God in youth will be great satisfaction in old
age. O what joy will reflection upon youthful piety yield! Even
Seneca, a heathen, could say: "Youth well spent is the
greatest comfort of old age." David could confidently plead
with God for deliverance out of the hand of the wicked: For,
saith he, thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust
from my youth. "Cast me not off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength faileth" (Ps 71:9,17-18).
An ingenuous master will not turn off a superannuated servant.
When the proconsul bade Polycarp deny Christ and swear by the
emperor, he answered: "I have served Christ these
eighty-six years, and he hath not once injured me, and shall I
now deny him?" Jacob could say: "God hath fed me all
my life long unto this day; he hath been kind to me all my days,
and I trust he will look to me even in the end; and shall I now
turn my back on him?" Whither can I go to mend myself for a
master? "Thou only hast the words of eternal life." He
that hath been the stay of my youth, will be the staff of my
age. I dare venture my soul upon his promise who hath hitherto
maintained me by his providence. "In the days of my youth,
the secret of God was upon my tabernacle, his candle did shine
upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness;
"and, though now "the sun, and the light, and moon and
stars be darkened, "in this my natural horizon, yet
"the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I
fear?" "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me, thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me." I have abundant
experience of his grace and presence. O the days of mercy I have
had many years ago! A good man said: "I got that in my
youth, which I would not for all the world have to get
now." Oliver Heywood. 1629-1702.
Verse 6. He did not, like most men, recognise the hand
of God only when, in an extraordinary manner, it became manifest
in life; but his eye of faith regards the ordinary works of God
as miracles. The translation from his mother's womb to the light
of day is to him an object of praise. (Ps 22:9-10.) And, really,
is not the preservation of the embryo, in its narrow confines, a
miracle? Is it not a pledge, simultaneously with man's growing
into being, of our after experience in life, that we have a God
"who bringeth us out of death to light?" (Ps 68:20.)
Is not the reason of our finding so little of praise, to be
sought in our having no eyes for his daily miracles? The
psalmist has eyes for the daily miracles of the Lord;
and, therefore, his mouth is daily full of the praise of the
Lord. Augustus F. Tholuck.
Verse 6. Blessed be God that ever I was born. Halyburton.
Verse 6. This verse corresponds with the preceding,
except that David proceeds farther. He not only celebrates the
goodness of God, which he had experienced from his childhood,
but, also, those proofs of it which he had received previous to
his birth. An almost similar confession is contained in Ps
22:9-10, by which is magnified the wonderful power and
inestimable goodness of God in the generation of men, the way
and manner of which would be altogether incredible, were it not
a fact with which we are quite familiar. If we are astonished at
that part of the history of the flood, in which Moses declares (Ge
8:13), that Noah and his household lived ten months amidst the
offensive nuisance produced by so many living creatures, when he
could not draw the breath of life, have we not equal reason to
marvel that the infant, shut up within its mother's womb, can
live in such a condition as would suffocate the strongest man in
half an hour? But we thus see how little account we make of the
miracles which God works, in consequence of our familiarity with
them. The Spirit, therefore, justly rebukes this ingratitude, by
commending to our consideration this memorable instance of the
grace of God which is exhibited in our birth and generation.
When we are born into the world, although the mother do her
office, and the midwife may be present with her, and many others
may lend their help, yet did not God, putting, so to speak, his
hand under us, receive us into his bosom, what would become of
us? and what hope would there be in the continuance of our life?
Yea, rather, were it not for this, our very birth would be an
entrance into a thousand deaths. God, therefore, is with the
highest propriety said to take us out of our mother's bowels.
To this corresponds the concluding part of the verse, My
praise shall be continually of thee by which the psalmist
means that he has been furnished with matter for praising God
without intermission. John Calvin.
Verse 8. Let my mouth be filled with thy praise.
Let my mouth, I say, be so filled with thy praise,
that from the bottom of my heart, even to the lips of my mouth,
the plenitude of thy grace, O God, infused into my heart, and
diffused over my lips, may loyally magnify thee; so shall I not
be found like that people, of whom thou dost say: "This
people honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from
me." Isa 29:13. Gerhohus.
Verse 9. Cast me not off in the time of old age,
etc.; for now I have most need of thee. The white rose is
soonest cankered; so is the white head soonest corrupted. Saepe
nigrum cor est, caput album. Satan maketh a prey of old
Solomon, Asa, Lot, others; whom when young he could never so
deceive. The heathens, therefore, well warn us to look well to
our old age, as that which cometh not alone, but is infested
with many diseases, both of body and mind. This David knew, and,
therefore, prayed as here: Cast me not off in the time of old
age; forsake me not when my strength faileth. He is a rare
old man that can say with Caleb (Jos 14:10,14), "Behold,
the Lord hath kept me alive, "etc. John Trapp.
Verse 9. Cast me not off in the time of old age,
etc. It is not unnatural or improper for a man who sees old age
coming upon him to pray for special grace, and special strength,
to enable him to meet what he cannot ward off, and what he
cannot but dread; for who can look upon the infirmities of old
age, as coming upon himself, but with sad and pensive feelings?
Who would wish to be an old man? Who can look upon a man
tottering with years, and broken down with infirmities; a man
whose sight and hearing are gone; a man who is alone amidst the
graves of all the friends that he had in early life; a man who
is a burden to himself, and to the world; a man who has reached
the "Last scene of all that ends the strange, eventful
history"—that scene of
"Second childishness, and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything; "
that scene when one can say—
"I have lived long enough; my way of life
Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf;
And that which should accompany old age,
As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends,
I must not look to have; "
Who can think of all this and not pray for special grace for
himself, should he live to see those days of infirmity and
weakness? And who, in view of such infirmities, can fail to see
the propriety of seeking the favour of God in early years? Albert
Barnes.
Verse 9. Cast me not off in the time of old age,
etc. David, mindful of the noble actions which, through God's
assistance, he had achieved in his youth, beseeches him not to
desert his servant, when persecuted by a rebellious son, in his
old age. The weakness and temptations peculiar to that time of
life, render this a petition necessary for all to make, before
we are overtaken by it. The church findeth but too much occasion
to make the same, now that she is sunk in years; when faith
languisheth, charity waxeth cold, and the infirmities of a
spiritual old age are coming fast upon her. George Horne.
Verse 9. Cast me not off. God had cast of his
predecessor, Saul, and things looked as if he now meant to cast him
off. His people also seemed disposed, by their joining with
Absalom, to cast him off: hence the force of the petition. Andrew
Fuller.
Verse 9. Forsake me not when my strength faileth.
Neither will Christ forsake his church in the latter days of its
age, when the weakness of faith becomes more prevalent. W.
Wilson.
Verse 9. Forsake me not when my strength faileth.
June 28. This day I enter on my eighty-sixth year. I now find I
grow old:
1. My sight is decayed, so that I cannot read a small print,
unless in a strong light.
2. My strength is decayed, so that I walk much slower than I
did some years since.
3. My memory of names, whether of persons, or places, is
decayed, till I stop a little to recollect them.
What I should be afraid of, is, if I took thought for the
morrow, that my body should weigh down my mind, and create
either stubbornness, by the decrease of my understanding, or
peevishness, by the increase of bodily infirmities; But thou
shalt answer for me, O Lord my God. John Wesley.
Verse 11. All kinds of distresses are obnoxious to the
worst of misjudgings from malevolent minds. The sufferings of
Christ produced this censorious scoff, "Let God deliver
him, if he will have him." (Mt 27:43.) David's trouble
easily induced his adversaries to conclude that God had
forsaken him, and that there was none to deliver him. But in
troubles of this nature, where especially there are frightful
complainings against themselves, men are more easily drawn out
to be peremptory in their uncharitable judgments concerning
them, because the trouble itself is somewhat rare, and apt to
beget hideous impressions, and, withal, the vent which the
afflicted parties give by their bemoaning of their estate, in
hope to ease themselves thereby, is but taken as a testimony
against themselves and the undoubted echoes of their real
feelings. Richard Gilpin (1625-1700), in "Daemonologia
Sacra; or, a Treatise of Satan's Temptations." (In
Nichols Series of Puritan Divines.)
Verse 13. Let them be confounded, etc. Let
them, who were so wicked that they never hoped anything good of
me, be confounded by the evidence of the blessings which
manifestly fall upon me; and, let them fail, the grounds
of their abuse being taken away, as a fire fails when the fagots
are removed. Gerhohus.
Verse 13. Let them be confounded, etc. By the
law of retaliation (talio), he might have said: "Be
thou an adversary to their souls, and seek their hurt."
Nothing of this is hinted at: his only desire is that they may
be confounded and fail, that they may be covered with disgrace
and shame. He seeks nothing beyond the frustration of their
attempts, that they may begin to be ashamed, and have no cause
for boasting that they came off victorious. Musculus.
Verse 13. Shame ariseth from utter disappointments. If
hope deferred causeth shame, then much more hope destroyed. When
a man sees his hopes quite cut off, so that he can no way reach
the thing he looked for, shame takes hold of him strongly. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 13. That are adversaries to my soul. That
hated him with a diabolical hatred, as the devil hates the souls
of men, and who has his name Satan from the word here
used. All wicked men are Satans, full of enmity against God and
all good men; and such were David's enemies, spiteful and
malicious, and nothing would satisfy them but his life. John
Gill.
Verse 14. But I will hope continually. Behold,
O Lord, I have prayed to thee, and I am comforted. Hope has thus
taught me. I am glad; because in thee have I trusted, I shall
never be confounded. Sorrow returned, equipped with vast array,
fortified at all points with swords and spears, and with great
clamour beleaguered my city. The din of his horsemen terrified
me; and, standing at the gates, he commanded silence, and thus
loudly spake: "Behold the man who trusted in God; who said,
I shall not be confounded for ever; who took hope for a
consoler." And, when he observed me blushing at these
words, he drew nearer, and said: "Where are the promises
which were thy trust? Where the consolation? Where the
deliverance? What have thy tears availed thee? What help have
thy prayers brought thee from heaven? Thou hast cried, and no
one has answered; thou hast wept, and who have been moved with
pity for thee? Thou hast called upon thy God, and he has been
silent. Thou hast prayed to him, and he has hidden himself from
thee: there has come no voice nor sound... Arise, therefore, and
flee for help to man, that he may free thee from thy
prison." With these words, there arose such a din of arms
in the camp—such a clamour of men and sounding of
trumpets—that I could hardly keep up heart; and, unless my
beloved Hope had brought me help, Sorrow would have seized and
carried me off in chains to his own place. Comes Hope to me,
gleaming in divine brightness, and, smiling, said: "O
soldier of Christ, how is thy heart? What is this struggle in
thy mind?" At these words, I began to blush. "Fear
not, "she said, "Evil shall not capture thee; thou
shalt never perish. Behold, I am with thee, to deliver thee.
Dost thou not know what is written (Psalm 12), `The fool hath
said in his heart, there is no God.' As one of the foolish women
hath this Sorrow spoken; never shall he be able to persuade thee
that there is no God, or that God does not exercise a providence
over all." Girolamo Savonarola. 1452-1498.
Verse 14. And I will always hope, and add to
(literally, add upon, accumulate, increase) all thy praise.
To all thy praise which I have uttered hitherto, I will continue
still to add. Joseph Addison Alexander.
Verse 14. I will expect continually. But what
did he expect? That for which he prayed in the ninth
verse—the preservation of his prosperity, the presence and the
help of God to the very end of life. Wherefore, he adds, continually,
in perpetuity, in the time of old age,—usque ad mortem.
Hermann Venema.
Verse 14. As there is no end to the lovingkindness of
Jehovah, there should be none to our gratitude. The hope of a
Christian enableth him to be thankful, even in the dark season
of affliction. Mrs. Thomson.
Verse 15. The righteousness of God, here
mentioned, includes not only the rectitude of his nature, and
the equity of his proceedings, but likewise that everlasting
righteousness which his Son hath brought in for our
justification. God's righteousness and salvation
are here joined together; and, therefore, let no man think to
put them asunder, or expect salvation without righteousness. Mrs.
Thomson.
Verse 15. I know not the numbers. David began
his arithmetic, in Ps 71:14, with addition: "I will
yet praise thee more and more; "but he is fairly beaten in
this first rule of sacred mathematics. His calculation fails
him, the mere enumeration of the Lord's mercies overwhelms his
mind; he owns his inadequacy. Reckon either by time, by place,
or by value, and the salvation of God baffles all powers of
estimation. C. H. S.
Verse 16. I will go. The word to go must
be here taken in the sense of going to battle against enemies.
This, he says, he will do, trusting not to his own, but to the
power of the Lord, his heart fired with the memory of the
righteousness of God. So is it in another place: "Some
trust in chariots, some in horses, but we in the name of our
God." Musculus.
Verse 16. I will go in the strength of the Lord.
The minister goes thus by realising this strength and depending
on it. In this strength he goes into the path of communion with
God, into the fields of conflict, in the privacy of domestic
life, and in all the walks of active life. His boast is in the righteousness
of Christ; and he mentions this to God as the ground of
his confidence, to himself as the spring of his comforts, to
others as the hope of salvation. Substance of Sermon by James
Sherman. The first preached by him after his settlement at
Surrey Chapel. September 4th, 1836.
Verse 16. The strength of the Lord God. The
power of God is expressed in the plural number, to show the
greatness of it, which is as a garrison to the believer. John
Gill.
Verse 16. I will go in the strength of the Lord.
The phrase, to go in, or, with the strengths of God,
does not teach us that he would go by means of them, by
their help and assistance, as many have thought, first,
because the word is used to signify the illustrious and mighty
deeds of God; secondly, because it denotes the subject
of praise; but to go with the strength of Jehovah, as the
rendering ought to be... is to go as if girt with his
former deeds of power—girt with them as if with the material
of praise. Hermann Venema.
Verse 17. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth.
Whence was it that David understood "more than the
ancients"? (Ps 119:100.) He had a Father to teach him; God
was his instructor. Many a child of God complains of ignorance
and dulness; remember this, thy Father will be thy tutor; he
hath promised to give "his Spirit to lead thee into all
truth" (Joh 6:13); and God doth not only inform the
understanding, but inclines the will; he doth not only teach us
what we should do, but enables us to do it. (Eze 36:27); "I
will cause you to walk in my statutes." What a glorious
privilege is this, to have the star of the word pointing us to
Christ, and the loadstone of the Spirit drawing! Thomas
Watson.
Verse 17. Thou hast taught me from my youth. If
you ask me what were the ways by which David was taught, I might
ask you what they were not... God taught him by his shepherd's
crook; and by the rod and sceptre of a king he taught him. He
taught him by the shouts of the multitude—"Saul hath
slain his thousands and David his ten thousands; "and he
taught him just as much, if not more, by the contempt he met in
the court of the Philistines. He taught him by the arrows of
Jonathan, levelled in friendship; and he taught him by the
javelin of Saul levelled at his life. He taught him by the
faithlessness of Abiathar, and the faithlessness of even his
faithful Joab; and he taught him by the faithfulness of Abishai,
and the faithfulness of Mephibosheth; and, let me add too, by
the rebellion of Absalom, and the selfishness of Adonijah; they
were all means, by which the Lord taught this his servant. And
be assured, you that are under his teaching, there is nothing in
your lives, but he can teach you by it: by comforts and crosses,
by your wounds and your healings, by that which he gives and by
what he takes away. He unteaches his child, that he may teach
him; shows him his folly, that he may make him wise; strips him
of his vain confidence, that he may give him strength; makes him
know that he is nothing, that he may show him that he has all in
the Lord—in Jesus his Beloved one. James Harrington Evans.
Verse 17. Thou hast taught me from my youth.
Youth needs a teacher that it may embrace virtue. Seneca says, Virtue
is a hard thing to youth, it needs a ruler and guide; vices are
acquired without a master. How prone he was in his boyhood
and youth to vices, we may see in Psalm 25. "Remember not
the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions." Jerome, in
his Epistle to Nepotianus, says: "As fire in green wood is
stifled, so wisdom in youth, impeded by temptations and
concupiscence, does not unfold its brightness, unless by hard
work, and steady application and prayer, the incentives of youth
are inwardly repelled." Hence it is that almost all nations
have provided good and wise teachers of the young. Among the
Spartans, one was chosen from the Magistrates and Senators to be
paidonomos, rector of the boys... At Athens there were
twelve men named Sophronistae, elected by the suffrages
of all the tribes, to moderate the manners of youth... God is
the teacher of his servants. Plato says, oiden einai
yeioteron, that there is nothing more divine than the
education of children. Of God the Father, or of the whole
Trinity, Hannah, the mother of Samuel, says, 1Sa 2:3: "The
Lord is a God of knowledge; "(Scientiarum, Vulg.)
that is, as the Chaldee has it, he knows all things... Socrates
says, that he is the mind of the universe. Without him,
therefore, all are demented; but with him, and through him, in a
single moment they become wise. Philo, in his treatise of the
sacrifice of Cain and Abel, says, Masters cannot fill the mind
of their pupils as if they were pouring water into a vessel; but
when God, the fountain of wisdom, communicates knowledge to the
human race, he does it without delay, in the twinkling of an
eye... His anointing shall teach you of all things. 1Jo
2:27. Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse 17. From my youth. Is it such "a
crown of glory" to be found old in the ways of
righteousness? Do you then begin to be godly betimes; that, if
you live in this world you may have this crown set upon your
heads when you are ancient; for is it not better for you to be
plants of God's house, than weeds upon the dunghill? Those that
are wicked are but as weeds upon a dunghill, but you that are
godly are as plants in God's own orchard. In Ro 16:7, we find
that Andronicus and Junia are commended because they were
in Christ before Paul: "They were in Christ before
me." It is an honourable thing to be in Christ before
others; this is honourable when you are young; and then going on
in the ways of godliness all your young time, and so in your
middle age, and till you come to be old. Jeremiah Burroughs.
Verse 17. Wondrous works. Observe that he calls
the blessing of divine aid so often received in affliction, wondrous
works. By this expression, he shows us, with what grievous
perils he was tossed; then how he had been snatched from them by
the hand of God, contrary to the expectation of all men.
Therefore, God is wonderful among his saints. To this end the
adversities of the saints tend, that they may show forth in them
the wonderful works of God. Musculus.
Verses 17-18. The integrity of our hearts and ways, in
former walkings after God, and service for God, may by faith in
Christ, as in all our justification, be pleaded. See also Isa
38:3 and Ps 119:10. The Lord himself maketh it to himself a
motive to show mercy to his people (Isa 63:8 Jer 2:2); only we
must use this plea more rarely and sparingly, in a self denying
way, in faith in Christ's righteousness, as made ours. Thomas
Cobbet.
Verse 18. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O
God, forsake me not. God exalts pardoning grace to some
more, and sanctifying grace to others; he is the God of grace.
Those ships that have been in long voyages at sea, three or four
years out, have gone through hot climates and cold, passed the
equinoctial line again and again, and have run through many a
difficulty, and great storms, and yet have been kept alive at
sea, as they speak, when these shall meet one another at sea
near the haven, how will they congratulate? And old disciples
should do so, that God hath kept grace alive in their souls. And
I would ask you how many thousand ships have you seen cast away
before your eyes? How many that have made "shipwreck of
faith and a good conscience, "as the apostle speaks? This
and that profession, that has run into this and that error
damnable, or false opinions and teaching, though all of smaller
moment; others that have struck upon quicksands of worldly
preferments, and many split upon rocks, and yet you have been
kept. This should move you to bless this your God, the God of
grace, the more. Come, let me knock at your hearts; are none of
you old professors, like old hollow oaks, who stand in the woods
among professors still, and keep their stand of profession
still, and go to ordinances, etc.; but the "rain they drink
in, "as the apostle's word is, serves to no other end but
to rot them. "These are nigh unto cursing." Or, have
you green fruits still growing on you, as quickly and lively
affections to God and Christ, and faith and love, as at the
first, and more abounding? O bless God you are so near the
haven, and lift up your hearts, your redemption draws near; and,
withal, raise your confidence, that that God of grace, who hath
called you into his eternal glory, will keep you for it, and
possess you of it shortly. Thomas Goodwin.
Verse 18. Forsake me not; until, etc. Apostasy
in old age is fearful. He that climbs almost to the top of a
tower, then slipping back, hath the greater fall. The patient
almost recovered, is more deadly sick by a relapse. There were
stars struck from heaven by the dragon's tail (Re 12:4); they
had better never have perched so high. The place where the
Israelites fell into that great folly with the daughters of
Moab, was in the plain, within the prospect of the Holy Land;
they saw their inheritance, and yet fell short of it. So
wretched is it for old men to fall near to their very entry of
heaven, as old Eli in his indulgence (1 Samuel 2); old Judah in
his incest (Genesis 38); old David with Bathsheba; old Asa
trusting in the physicians more than in God (2Ch 16:12); and old
Solomon built the high places. Some have walked like cherubs in
the midst of the stones of fire, yet have been cast as profane
out of God's mountain. Eze 28:14,16. Thus the seaman passeth all
the main, and suffers wreck in the haven. The corn often
promises a plenteous harvest in the blade, and shrinks in the
ear. You have seen trees loaden with blossoms, yet, in the
season of expectation, no fruit. A comedy that holds well many
scenes, and goes lamely off in the last act, finds no applause.
Remember Lot's wife (Lu 17:32): think on that pillar of salt,
that it may season thee. Thomas Adams.
Verse 18. Until I have shewed thy strength unto
this generation, etc. Are there better preachers of the
works of God to be found than hoary parents in the circle of
their children; or grandparents in that of their grandchildren? Augustus
F. Tholuck.
Verse 18.
With years oppressed, with sorrows worn,
Dejected, harassed, sick, forlorn,
To thee, O God, I pray;
To thee my withered hands arise,
To thee I lift these failing eyes:
Oh, cast me not away!
Thy mercy heard my infant prayer;
Thy love, with all a mother's care,
Sustained my childish days:
Thy goodness watched my ripening youth,
And formed my heart to love thy truth,
And filled my lips with praise.
O Saviour! has thy grace declined?
Can years affect the Eternal Mind,
Or time its love destroy?
A thousand ages pass thy sight,
And all their long and weary flight
Is gone like yesterday.
Then, even in age and grief, thy name
Shall still my languid heart inflame,
And bow my faltering knee:
Oh, yet this bosom feels the fire,
This trembling hand and drooping lyre,
Have yet a strain for thee!
Yes, broken, tuneless still, O Lord,
This voice, transported, shall record
Thy goodness tried so long;
Till, sinking slow, with calm decay,
Its feeble murmurs melt away,
Into a seraph's song.
—Sir Robert Grant.
Verse 19. O God, who is like unto thee? Either
for greatness or goodness, for power or for mercy, for justice,
truth, and faithfulness; for the perfections of his nature, or
the works of his hands; and to be praised, reverenced, and
adored, as he is. John Gill.
Verse 19. Who is like unto thee! Krmk ym, Mi
camocha. God is alone: who can resemble him? He is eternal;
he can have none before, and there can be none after;
for, in the infinite unity of trinity, he is that
eternal, unlimited, impartible, incomprehensible, and
uncompounded, ineffable Being, whose essence is hidden
from all created intelligences, and whose counsels cannot
be fathomed by any creature that even his own hand can form.
"WHO IS LIKE UNTO THEE!" will excite the wonder,
amazement, praise, and adoration of angels and men to all
eternity. Adam Clarke.
Verse 20. Thou shalt quicken me again, etc.
Here Jerome triumphs over the Jews, challenging them when this
was ever verified in David, for he was never dead and quickened
again; and, therefore, this must needs be expounded of him as
that in Psalm 16: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in the
grave; "and to "the depths of the earth, "here,
answer those words, Eph 4:9, "Now that he ascended, what is
it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the
earth?" Yet, this may also be applied to David, being
figuratively understood, as a like speech of Hannah, 1 Samuel 2.
John Mayer.
Verse 20. And thou shalt bring me up, etc. This
is an allusion to men who are unhappily fallen into a deep pit
of water. The meaning is, Thou shalt draw me out of the extreme
danger into which I am plunged, and wherein I shall perish
without thy help. Thomas Fenton.
Verse 21. Greatness increasing with comfort, and
comfort increasing with greatness; very rarely united. George
Rogers.
Verse 22. With the psaltery... with the harp.
There was a typical signification in them; and upon this account
they are not only rejected and condemned by the whole army of
Protestant divines, as for instance, by Zuinglius, Calvin, Peter
Martyr, Zepperus, Paraeus, Willet, Ainsworth, Ames, Calderwood,
and Cotton; who do, with one mouth, testify against them, most
of them expressly affirming that they are a part of the
abrogated legal pedagogy; so that we might as well recall the
incense, tapers, sacrifices, new moons, circumcision, and all
the other shadows of the law into use again. But Aquinas himself
also, though a Popish schoolman, pleads against them upon the
same account, quia aliquid figurabant, and saith, the
Church in his time did not use them, ne videatur judaizare,
lest they should seem to judaize. Samuel Mather, on The
Types.
Verse 22. Psaltery... harp. Suppose singing
with instruments were not typical, but only an external
solemnity of worship, fitted to the solace of the outward senses
of children under age, such as the Israelites were in the Old
Testament (Ga 4:1-3); yet now, in the grown age of the heirs of
the New Testament, such external pompous solemnities are ceased,
and no external worship reserved, but such as holdeth forth
simplicity and gravity; nor is any voice now to be heard in the
church of Christ, but such as is significant and edifying by
signification (1Co 14:10-11,26), which the voice of instruments
is not. John Cotton, 1585-1652.
Verse 22. Holy One of Israel. This name of God
occurs in the Psalms only in two other places, Ps 71:78,41 89:18
these last two being, according to Delitzsch, older Psalms than
this. In Isaiah, this name of God occurs thirty times; in
Habakkuk once; in Jeremiah (who may have adopted it from Isaiah)
twice (Jer 50:29 51:5). J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 23. My lips; my soul. Hypocrites praise
God with the lips only; but David joins the soul
to the lips. William Nicholson.
Verse 23. Greatly. See how the word great is
repeated. Great things done, Ps 71:19; great troubles shown, Ps
71:20; greatness increased, Ps 71:21; and great rejoicing
consequent thereon, in Ps 71:23. In a great God, doing great
things, it is meet greatly to rejoice. C. H. S.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Arguments used to induce to Lord to hear, drawn,
1. From his justice and equity: Deliver me in thy
righteousness.
2. From his word and promise: Thou hast given
commandment, etc.
3. From his power: Thou art my rock. etc.
4. From his relation to him: My God, my hope.
5. From the qualities of his adversaries: They were
wicked, unrighteous, and cruel.
6. From his confidence: Thou art my hope.
7. From his gracious providence: By thee have I been
holden up, etc.
8. From his thankful heart: My praise shall be
continually, etc.
9. He had none to trust to but God: Thou art my
refuge. Adam Clarke.
Verse 1. Faith is a present act; faith is a personal
act, faith deals only with God, faith knows what she is about,
faith kills her fears by prayer.
Verse 2. An appeal.
1. To the power of God: Deliver me.
2. To the faithfulness of God: In thy righteousness.
3. To the providence of God: Cause me to escape.
4. To the condescension of God: Incline thine ear.
5. To the mercy of God: Save me.
Verse 2. Cause me to escape. From whom? From
what? How? By what power? For what end?
Verse 3. (first two clauses). The believer
abiding in God and continually resorting to him.
Verse 3. (Third clause). A command based on the
divine promise, clothed with divine power, addressed to all
necessary agencies, and embracing all exigencies.
Verse 4.
1. When God is for us, the wicked are against us.
2. When the wicked are against us, God is for us.
Verse 5. God the essence of hope and faith.
Verse 7. (first clause). may be accommodated
to,
1. The Saviour.
2. The Saint. He is a wonder in reference to
(a) What he once was;
(b) What he now is;
(c) What he will hereafter be.
3. The sinner is "a wonder unto many;" a
wonder to three worlds: to
(a) angels;
(b) saints;
(c) devils and lost souls.
—Warwell Fenn. 1830.
Verse 7. Consider the text, with reference to David,
to Christ, and to the Christian.
1. With reference to David.
(a) David was a wonder as a man.
(b) As a king.
(c) As a servant of God.
2. With respect to Christ.
(a) Christ was a wonder in his person.
(b) In his life.
(c) In his miracles.
(d) In his teaching.
(e) In his sufferings.
(f) In his ascension and mediatorial glory.
3. With regard to the Christian.
(a) The Christian is a wonder to himself.
(b) To the world.
(c) To wicked spirits.
(d) To the angels in heaven.
—John Cawood. 1830.
Verse 8.
1. What? filled with what?—murmurings? doubts? fears? No!
Praise. My own?—of men? No. Thy praise. Thy honour.
2. When? All the day.
(a) The whole day.
(b) Every day; a good preparation for heaven.
Verse 9. There are some peculiar circumstances of old
age which render this blessing—the favour and presence of
God—necessary.
1. Old age is a time of but little natural enjoyment, as
Barzillai acknowledged, 2Sa 19:35.
2. It is a time of life in which the troubles of life are
often known to increase.
3. Old age is a time in which the troubles of life not only
increase, but become less tolerable.
4. Old age is a time which ought to command respect, and does
so among dutiful children and all serious Christians: but it is
often known to be attended with neglect. This is the case
especially where they are poor and dependent. It has been the
case where public characters have lost their youthful vivacity,
and the brilliancy of their talents. A. Fuller.
Verse 9. There is,
1. Fear, mixed with faith.
(a) Natural to old age.
(b) Suggested by the usage of the world.
2. Faith mixed with fear: "Cast me not, "etc.
(a) Old age is not a sin.
(b) It is a crown of glory if found, etc.
Verses 11-12. Two great lies and two sweet prayers.
Verses 13-14.
1. What the wicked gain by opposing the righteous: Let them,
etc. Ps 71:13.
2. What the righteous gain from being opposed by them, Ps
71:14: But I, etc.
Verse 14. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 998;
"More and More."
Verse 15.
1. The determination avowed.
(a) To recount the instances of the divine faithfulness in
his deliverances.
(b) To recount them publicly: My mouth, etc.
(c) Constantly: All the day.
2. The reason assigned: For I know not, etc.
"Eternity's too short to utter all thy praise."
Therefore I begin it now, and will continue it.
Verse 16.
1. The resolution: I will go.
2. The reservation: Thy strength only—thy righteousness
only.
Verse 17. O God, thou hast taught me. None but
God can teach us experimentally; and the lessons he teaches are
always useful and important. He teaches all his scholars to know
themselves—their depravity, poverty, and slavery. He teaches
them his law—its purity, claims, and penalty. He teaches them
his gospel—its fulness, freeness, and sensibility. He teaches
them to know himself; as a reconciled God, as their Father and
faithful friend. His teaching is accompanied with power and
authority. We may know divine teaching by its effects: it always
produces humility—they sit as his feet; dependence upon him;
abhorrence of sin; love to God as a teacher; obedience to the
lessons taught; thirst for further attainments; and it brings us
daily to Jesus. James Smith.
Verse 18. The peculiar testimony of pious old age,
what it is based upon, to whom it should be directed, and what
we may hope from it.
Verse 19. A sermon might be instructively worked out
upon "the high things of God."
Verse 20.
1. The future benefit of present trials:
"Hereafter," said Aneas to his shipwrecked companions.
"It will delight us to think of these things."
2. The present benefit of future mercies: "Glory to thee
for all the grace we have not tasted yet."
Verse 22. A choice subject for song—"thy truth,
"which may mean either doctrinal truth, or the attribute of
faithfulness, its manifestation in history, and in our own
experience.
Verse 22-23.
1. The soul of music: Not in the instrument or the voice, but
in the soul. "I will sing with the understanding
also." "Making melody in the heart, "etc.
2. The music of the soul. The soul which thou hast
redeemed. Redemption is the music of souls once lost. Their
only song in heaven.
Verse 24. How to make familiar talk edifying and
useful.
WORK UPON THE SEVENTY-FIRST PSALM
Hieronymi Savonarolae Ferrariensis
Meditationes in Psalmos—Miserere—In Te Domine Speravi, et
Qui Regis Israel (12mo. Leyden: 1633).